Vancouver council approves 25-storey Goh Ballet student housing tower on Main Street

Vancouver city council has approved, in principle, a 25-storey student housing tower for Goh Ballet Academy on Main Street at East 8th Avenue, setting aside staff recommendations to send the project back for more work.

The rezoning was approved subject to conditions, including a requirement that units be owned or leased by a public post-secondary institution. The project will require further review with city staff before any building can proceed. A heritage designation of the century-old former Royal Bank of Canada building on the site must also be approved at a future public hearing for the rezoning to take effect.

City planners had recommended against the tower, warning the lot's 19-metre frontage is too small to properly support a 25-storey building in an area meant to retain a low-rise shopping village character. The Broadway plan generally requires 46 metres of frontage; staff said they could only support a six-storey building without assembling adjacent lots.

Coun. Lisa Dominato, who pushed for approval, noted the century-old building no longer functions for the academy—dancers have had to put out buckets to catch water dripping through the ceiling. The 315-unit dormitory would place the school one block from the future Broadway subway line. Around 10 units on lower floors would be reserved for Goh Ballet students, teachers and choreographers.

Public feedback ran against the proposal: 39 opposed, 16 supported, seven were mixed. The urban design panel also recommended resubmission, calling the 25-storey tower on the lot "not supportable" and potentially "detrimental to livability, and student and pedestrian safety."